Affectionate Pickpocket

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Some pickpockets execute their craft by avoiding all detection, and making sure their victims never register the fact that contact was made. Others prefer just the opposite. Affectionate Pickpocket is when a character tries to disguise picking someone's as an affectionate hug. Or even a Kiss of Distraction.

For instance, Alice spontaneously gives Bob a great big hug. "Did I ever tell you what a great friend you are?"

Examples

Nami from One Piece. Even as her goodbye from her home island has her taking everyone of her villager's wallets in a mad dash for the ship as a way of saying goodbye to them.

Comic Books

Happens once to Achille Talon with a man in the street pretending to recognize him as an old friend who saved his life — and gets all touchy-feely in result. Achille can't manage to put a word edgewise until he reaches for his wallet to prove his identity. He then pursues the man, only to see him pulling the same trick on Lefuneste.

Comic Strips

Garfield has done this to steal food from people's pockets on at least two occasions.

Fan Works

Living with Danger: While she is staying at the Weasley's house after the Pack's adults have been arrested, Meghan hugs Mrs Weasley, telling her she is a great mum, and takes the chance to swipe her wand. She needs it to activate the Marauders' Map and find Hagrid.

Not as affectionate as some, but in The Adventures of Tintin, Silk reaches his arm around someone to light his cigarette, while lifting his wallet with his other hand.

Films — Live-Action

In German silent film The Wildcat, Rischka the thief and Lilli the officer's daughter are part of a Love Dodecahedron which has both of them pining for handsome Lt. Alexis. Rischka embraces her rival, pats Lilli on the back, and tells her that she will step aside and leave Alexis to Lilli. While she does this, she steals Lilli's necklace.

The guy in Casablanca who puts his arms around visitors and warns them about thieves while robbing them.

Maverick. Annabelle Bransford does this to Maverick twice in the same scene. The first time he notices and makes her give his wallet back, the second time he's so overwhelmed he doesn't notice and has to track her down later.

The Thénardiers in Les Miserables, as seen in the "Master of the House" number.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Sherlock steals a message meant for Moriarty from Irene Adler, who tries to steal it back while kissing him after making a dinner date, but Holmes just grabs her hand before it reaches its target.

In the 1932 film Frisco Jenny a woman is shown sitting on a drunk man's lap an in a 1906 San Francisco brothel. While distracting him with a kiss, she steals his wallet from his breast pocket, takes the money out, puts the wallet back, then discreetly draws a little circle on his shoulder with a chalk (a sign to other pickpockets that he has no extra money to be fleeced).

In the 2008 film Mail-Order Bride a 19th century con artist takes place her dead friend as a rich man's fiancee. During a party at the inn, she dances with several guests and picks their pockets.

In the 1995 film Kleptomania a rich wife starts to steal out of boredom; one day she meets a pickpocket girl who agrees to show her the tricks of the trade. First she distracts her with a kiss and steals her wrist watch, then both go to the subway where the girl starts pickpocketing various people while the wife watches. The girl then dares the wife to go and try her hand at it; she steals two wallets, a pen, and a wrist watch.

F/X: Murder by Illusion: McCarthy is ordered to turn in his badge. This humiliating defeat is apparently a bit too much for him to handle, since he has to hug his boss for comfort... and then he walks away with his boss's badge.

In Key Largo, Gaye steals Rocco's gun from his pocket while clinging to his body.

Mission: Impossible II: Nyah sidles up against Ambrose, the villain, to steal a valuable envelope. She's successful the first time, but he notices when she does it again to return it (and she puts it in the wrong pocket, which would have tipped him off anyway).

Literature

Fisk pulls this off enough times in the Knight and Rogue Series (in just the first book) that Michael gives up and simply makes holding on to the money Fisk's job.

In The Golden Nineties by Lisa Mason, one of the main characters meets a woman on the ferry into San Francisco, who claims to be seasick and asks if she can lean on him. After the boat docks, she disappears along with his wallet, and when he describes her to some locals, they identify her.

There's a story in Henry Peacham's The Art of Living in London (1642) about a tradesman whose wife's purse is stolen at the theatre, after she put it in her petticoats for safety. He asked why she didn't feel a hand, and she replied "I felt ones hand there; but I did not thinke hee had come for that."

In A Brother's Price, Jerin pretends to stumble against a woman and allows her to grope him in order to steal back his own gun, which she took away from him earlier. He repeats this with a different captor to get back his confiscated lockpicks.

Live-Action TV

In The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed we're told that Ruchechnik started his career in this manner - "mistaking" strangers for dear friends and filching their as he enthusiastically greeted them.

The Pretender, "Crazy": Jarod, doing time as an inmate in a mental asylum, hugs the orderly and thanks him for caring. The orderly immediately makes him give back his keyring. (After he leaves, we learn that the keyring was just a decoy theft, and Jarod also lifted something else.)

Leverage: Parker's mentor Archie asks her for his wallet back after they share an embrace. Given that he's the one who taught her to be a master thief, he'd probably be disappointed if she didn't steal it.

In a sketch three men break out of prison; they reunite and give each other hugs, each of them robbing the others.

In another sketch, Robin Hood (Benny Hill) has become the new Sheriff of Nottingham — Friar Tuck and Will Scarlet come to congratulate him and he lifts their money pouches as he hugs them, then sics the guards on them.

Babylon 5, "Legacies": Ivanova has a heartwarming conversation with a Street Urchin that ends with the two of them clasping hands in a gesture of mutual sympathy... and the street urchin takes the opportunity to steal the commlink off Ivanova's hand, just to keep in practice.

On Hogan's Heroes, Hogan would send messages to a female underground contact (who was dating Schultz in this episode) like this. The boys at Stalag 13 would put a message in Schultz's belt on the pretense of helping him stretch to stay in shape. Later, when he goes to the girl's home, she would greet him with a hug and take the message out. The process would then get reversed for her response message.

Gilligan's Island had a scene where Ginger seductively talked up Gilligan in order to steal the necklace he's wearing. Subverted in that, as she's walking away afterwards, Gilligan held up the necklace and said "You don't have what you think you have."

One episode of Nash Bridges ended with the title character sending away a young hoodlum. They hug just before the kid is to get on his plane. After that, the kid reveals that he stole Nash's wallet. After the kid returns it, Nash reveals he also stole the kid's wallet.

Subverted in JAG, an old friend of Harm's who works as a security consultant gives him a friendly handshake and slaps his back in a bar. Later, when Harm goes to reach for his wallet the friend pulls it out of his pocket and says that he could now get on any military base using Harm's stolen ID. Harm says he knew he'd been picked and opens the flap for his ID, which has a piece of paper saying "ARREST THIS MAN" instead of his credentials.

Stargate SG-1: Vala Mal Doran in season 9 episode 3, asking for a parting hug from Daniel Jackson — to steal back the valuable artifact he just confiscated from her.

In The Mentalist, Patrick Jane is a proficient pickpocket, and often uses this method, either to lift something from a suspect or to plant something on them. It's gotten to the point where Agent Lisbon, upon hearing from a freed hostage (long story) that Jane had hugged her, immediately asks the woman to check her pockets. Sure enough, there's a message there from Jane.

Community: In the season 4 finale, Annie gives Jeff a hug in order to steal his phone from his back pocket.

A Different World: At a championship football game, a team mascot picks Ron up and twirls him around, much to his annoyance, given that the mascot is from the opposing team. Later, the mascot ends up in the same cell with Ron, Dwayne, and some other students. They've been arrested for brawling, he's been arrested for pickpocketing. As he's escorted out, he confesses to Ron, "Your wallet is with the others".

At the end of Beside the Seaside by Leslie Sands, two thieves are let off with a stern warning and hug the main characters in gratitude. When their pants fall down, they realise they've been robbed of everything including their braces.

Video Games

Played with in Baldur's Gate II: Imoen suddenly starts acting all love-struck and swooning around Keldorn, much to his horror (since he is Lawful Good, married, and old enough to be her father). After making him squirm for a bit, Imoen chuckles and gives him his ring back.

In Tales of the Abyss, Luke gets his wallet stolen when he first meets a "very friendly" Noir. Luckily Tear noticed before she left.

Sam Starfall from Freefall has been known to attempt this — but then, he's probably tried every thieving-technique in the book, and invented a few himself. (Of course, since everybody knows that he's a notorious thief and pickpocket, this particular technique doesn't work well for him.)

Jason: My wallet's on the dresser. There should be enough money in it to cover the bill and tip. Aubrey: Don't worry about it, baby. I've got it covered. I palmed your credit card weeks ago. Jason: Ah, yes. I do believe that was the sexiest pick-pocketing I ever fell victim to.

The Simpsons, "Curse of the Flying Hellfish": Mr. Burns forces Grandpa to give up his key to the Hellfish fortune. Bart throws himself at Burns and wraps his arms around him, saying "Can I go with you to get the treasure? I won't eat much and I don't know the difference between right and wrong." This seems like a very in-character thing for Bart to do; but when Burns leaves (without Bart) Bart shows to Grandpa that he picked Burns's pocket, so now he has both keys needed.

In the pilot episode, Fry and Leela put their hands together and Bender puts his hand in as well.

Fry: What's the matter with you? Bender: I just wanted to be part of the moment. Leela: Hey, he stole my ring!

In another episode, Bender gets sick; it turns out he stole Amy's watch and it's jammed in his gears. He pulls it out, returns it, and hugs her in apology. As he hugs her, he swipes her earrings.

Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, "Foster's Goes to Europe": Right before finally getting to leave for Europe, Mac receives an extremely long hug from Madame Foster... only to discover by the time he and his friends are at the airport that his tickets are missing! The result: everyone is disappointed in a confused Mac (even poor Wilt!). Frankie comes in to see Madame, only to find her missing. Cut to Madame, with her friends in tow, not to mention Eurotrish, in the plane en route to Europe, chuckling over "getting what she needed from that hug". Certainly one of the most infuriating endings for what happened to Mac.

Community

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